Parents as Partners, Thursday October 1, 2009
Attendance:: Lisa Dike, Kelley Charland, Laurie Singer, Woody Martel, Maria Dramstad, Mary Lou Lord, Gail O’Connell, Theresa Utton-Jerman, Laura Wu, Todd Jewell, Erna Deutsch, Dorothy Dickson, Laura Cunningham Firkey, Sharon Sturm
Introductions were followed by the Principal’s report:
We’ve had a great start to the year.
Open house feedback: the format was different this year. Students need to stay with parents and can’t wander around, even though the format is more parent-friendly. Since this was the first time teachers had done it this way, the presentations may have seemed more rushed since they were concerned about fitting everything in.
NECAP testing happens Tu-Th next week for all three grades. Snacks will be discussed later.
The first dance was well-attended – about 200 students, which is about 2/3 of the population. Woody had a good time.
Science NECAP assessment: ADL got the results about a week before they came out in the paper for verification. 35% of the kids were proficient last year, and this year it’s more than 35%. The tests have been hands-on physical tasks and it was different this year. We have not been teaching scientific inquiry in the same way that the tests ask the students to express it. This year’s test was more of a reading/writing piece related to pollution and being able to draw conclusions from the text. We are working within the Vermont standards. Students need to be able to create hypotheses, analyze data, and come up with solutions. We are focusing this year on literacy in every subject, so in theory we should be able to handle this May’s test either way it comes. A parent is concerned about schools "teaching to the test," and keeping away from a broader spectrum than what’s represented in testing.
Gail:
The spreadsheet is as complete as possible, so we have names for reps for all teams:
Wonder: Lisa Dike, Lori Landau, Melissa Mazza
Nova: Kelley Charland
Discovery: Mary Lou Lord, Sharon Sturm
Alchemy: Laurie Lavallee, Maria Dramstad
Next year on the forms, parents need to write their child’s team instead of
grade. Also, a clear indication needs to be added so that parents know there
are more volunteer options on the back of the form.
Snack shack volunteers: We have a few vacancies, but contacts have been made that will hopefully fill the slots. We have several shoppers.
Financial report: $1597.14. NECAP testing snack money has gone out to
one team’s reps so far.
Team Nova: Mt. Philo on the 9th
Team Wonder: Audubon on the 12th.
School dance: 10/16.
New business:
Snacks for NECAP: Kelley got juice boxes, rice krispie treats, and cheese
crackers, all prepackaged for her team. Team Wonder’s rep got people to
hand out food but hasn’t gotten the food.
Apples are problematic for braces wearers, so teams that choose apples need
an alternative snack to go with them.
Sweatshirt sales: Conny Thoma won’t be available until after December to be at a PAP meeting. We hope to get that going sooner than that and will find out who she worked with last year.
We will not pursue an option for an Entertainment Book fundraiser.
We have no slot at Hannaford. Multiple parents have asked about it at the service desk. We have to register every year, and that has now been done, so it should be up there soon. We need to follow up again in the spring to make sure we’re on the list for next year.
Book fair: Charlee Day said she will head it up for November, dates to be announced, but it will happen around conference time. Lost and Found will also be out for parents to review under the direction of Lili Fiori-Young.
GASP: Dorothy still needs a co-facilitator. Sharon Sturm can help out that night, but can’t do a lot of pre-work on it. The process starts in January. It’s a lot of e-mailing, checking in with people to make sure things are arranged, coordinating with the HS and other groups that participate.
Music food: Mary Lou Lord and Maria Dramstad will coordinate bakers for all music concerts and will print up slips for the staff to hand out to music students to ask for additional contributions. Gail O’Connell will come on concert nights to help with set-up/take-down.
Field trips: Parent volunteers are all set for the Audubon trip as chaperones and snack people. We will work on getting staff access to the volunteer spread sheet so they can contact parents about field trip help and other needs.
Laurie brings up a speaker, Linda Lantieri, who will speak 11/12 at SBHS about fostering inner strength in kids.
Mr. Moreau is looking for a parent accompanist to volunteer for some practices and concerts. Tu and Th 8:05 to 8:35, 2:45 to 3:30 after school for practices a couple of weeks before each choral concert. Suggestions for senior citizens, college students, and piano teachers.
Schools will dispense H1N1 shots. For schools with over 300 students they send in staff people who work with volunteers. This will happen Tuesday, 12/15. We will need 3 volunteers to help usher kids in and out.
The Montshire Museum in Norwich, VT has an interactive dinosaur exhibit with some impressive features.